nBSG: "The Plan" Talkback - (SPOILERS)

[Junghalli]

But there's no evidence that any of them were modified at all. Some went off on their own (Razor), some were scrapped, apparently willingly (Razor) (possibly to transfer into human forms, as Cavil says he has a "Centurion side"), and others work for Cavil on the Colony, as far as we know willingly. There's actually no direct evidence that telecephalic inhibitors would work on old Centurions.

That wasn't what I meant. They rebelled against humans because humans had been treating them like disposable mooks, and then the humaniforms come along and start slapping mind-control chips into potentially sapient robots (the new Centurions) to turn them into disposable mooks with no free will. I find it hard to imagine that not generating tension and resentment, unless the old Centurions simply don't identify with the new Centurions at all, or don't consider somebody slapping a mind-control chip that surpresses your free will into you at "birth" to be something objectionable, or consider the humaniforms holy and incapable of doing anything wrong, or just plain don't have emotions (at least not the relevant human-like ones). All of those things are possible, but like I said I'd have liked to see it explored instead of just left as an unresolved fridge logic problem.

[Anguirus]

^ I think it's probable that the surviving old Centurions, are surviving precisely because they are aligned with Cavil's interests. That said I don't really see any reason why the old Centurions would identify with the new Centurions, they are different models. In fact that might not even have been involved in their construction and thus not really know anything about the inhibitors.

You're right in that it's a question that wasn't explored, but it's not one that bothers me in that "fridge logic" kind of way. I don't really need to see a Grand History of the Cylons, the only really salient point as far as the show is concerned that Cavil pulled some jackass gambit behind the scenes just as modern Cylon society was developing and grabbed the reins. As for the irony of the situation, Adama points it out as early as season 3.

Cylon society also has a couple of interesting habits: they are inherently similar enough so that they don't disagree very often unless outsiders influence them, and they make BIG decisions VERY quickly. Keeping in mind how casually the later Cylons voted to kill all humans, then stop killing all humans and leave the Colonies, then occupy all humans, then kill all humans again, it doesn't really surprise me that the old Centurions might have radically shifted their priorities once the Final Five showed up and gave them a talking-to.